6 Minute English – What makes a superhero?

Rob
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Rob … and … is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Super-Finn!

Finn
Hello Rob – it’s just Finn here actually – I’m no superhero!

Rob
That’s a shame. So you don’t have any special superpowers – amazing skills and abilities that can be used for saving people and fighting against evil?

Finn
Well, lots of powers, but no superpowers. I’m afraid not. Superheroes, of course, tend to be fictional characters – they’re made-up characters, who appear in comics and books and movies.

Rob
You mean characters like Batman, Spiderman and Wonder Woman. Do you have a favourite?

Finn
I do actually. Spiderman was my favourite when I was growing up. And he can climb up walls and I really wanted to do the same – I tried to climb up the walls in my house and sadly I failed because superheroes are fictional – they aren’t real!

Rob
Well some real-life superheroes do exist and that’s what we’ll be talking about today and we’ll be explaining some words related to superheroes. But first a question …

Finn
Can I use my superpowers to answer this one?

Rob
You can try. What year did Superman first appear published in a comic book?

a)    1930

b)    1934

c)    1938

Finn
My spidey sense tells me it’s 1934.

Rob
I’ll tell you if you’re right or wrong at the end of the programme. Now let’s find out more about some real-life superheroes. These are people who don’t really have superpowers but they are doing something extraordinary.

Finn
So they are doing something special – but most importantly, they are doing something good.

Rob
People often describe someone who has done something brave, such as saving someone’s life, as a hero. Firefighters are sometimes described as heroes because they often risk their lives to save others.

Finn
But heroes don’t have to be life-savers. We sometimes describe a person with great intelligence or amazing abilities as ‘our hero’ – a musician maybe or an athlete. It’s someone we admire and look up to.

Rob
Well there’s a man in Japan who’s recently been described as a ‘superhero’. To be honest, I don’t think his powers are superhuman – that means a power that ordinary humans don’t have – but what he does is rather unusual and he gives up his free time doing it.

Finn
Tell me more Rob.

Rob
This is Chibatman – named after the city of Chiba where he comes from. His mission – his purpose – is to make the people of the city happy.

Finn
That’s a worthwhile mission.

Rob
It is. Chibatman has been spotted ‘flying’ through the streets of Chiba dressed a bit like Batman and riding his custom-built three-wheeled Chibatpod. But why? Is he just a bit crazy or does he have honourable intentions?

Finn
You mean does he genuinely want to do good things and make things better?

Rob
Well, listen to what he says, speaking through a translator, and see if you can hear what his reasons are …

INSERT
‘Chibatman’ – Chiba superhero
I started doing this around three years ago. As for my reasons: during the great earthquake people forgot how to smile. I wanted to help bring the smile back and that’s why I started.

Finn
OK, so because of the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in 2011, he felt people had forgotten how to smile. So his mission was to get people smiling again. That’s something we could describe as being ‘honourable’.

Rob
What is interesting about him and other superheroes is they keep their identity closely-guarded – nobody knows who the real man in the costume is.

Finn
That’s also true for another Japanese man who’s been called a superhero. Mr Full Moon wears a costume to hide his identity when he goes around cleaning the streets of Tokyo.

Rob
Yes, he actually talks to people through a voice on his smartphone. He hasn’t been employed by anyone to do this ­– he just claims he wants to keep the city’s streets cleaner. We could call him a grime fighter armed with a dustpan and brush!

Finn
Very good – a ‘grime fighter’ – someone fighting dirt and dust!

Rob
Anyway, time now to see if your superpowers helped you answer today’s question correctly.

Finn
Yes Rob, you asked me what year Superman first appeared in a comic book.

Rob
And you said 1934 and you were wrong. Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 in June 1938. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and originally he wasn’t a hero but a villain – the bad guy – but he was changed into a hero before he was published in the comic.

Now before you change into your costume, could you save the day by reminding us of some of the words we have heard today?

Finn
Yes, today we heard:

superhero – character in a film or story who has special strength and uses it to do good things and help other people

superpowers – extreme strength or abilities that most people do not have

fictional – invented / not real

extraordinary – special or very unusual

life-savers – people who give help to other people who are in a very difficult situation

admire – respect

mission – important job

honourable – morally good and deserving respect

closely-guarded – kept secret

Rob
Well, that brings us to the end of today’s 6 Minute English. We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s programme. Please join us again soon. Bye.

Finn
Bye.